Engine



March 2 1926.

WA. DOBLE, JR

ENGINE Filed July 23, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W/T/VZ55 INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,575,361 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. DOBLE, JR., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA; ASSIGNOR TO DOBLE LABORATORIES, OF. SAN FRANCISCO,

FORNIA.

CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALI- ENGINE.

Application filed July 23, 1919. Serial No. 312,808.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, VVILLIAM A; DoBLE, J12, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engines, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to engines and particularly to reciprocating engines.

An object of the invention is to provide an exhaust valve which may beset so that it remains continuously open.

Another olncct of the invention 1s to provide means for preventing the travel of lubricating oil from the crank case along the cylinder walls into the working part of the cylinder.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which, with the foregoing. will be set forth at length in the following description where I shall outline in full. that form of the invention which I have selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and forn'iing part of the present specification. In said drawings 1 have shown one embodiment of my invenlion. but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to such form, since the invention, as expressed in the claims,.maybe embodied in a plurality of forms.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a portion of an engine embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section on a larger scale of a portion of the engine shown in Figure 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a fragment of a cylinder.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the engine showing the driving connections between the crank shaft and the valve driving shafts and the means for longitudinally shifting the Valves.

Fig. 5 is a detail of the driving connection between the valve shafts and the valve driving shafts.

The engine shown in the drawings is a horizontal opposed cylinder steam engine, but it is to be understood that I do not limit my invention to steam engines, since it may be used to advantage on all reciprocating engines, including internal combustion engines. The engine shown in the drawings includes a cylinder 2 in which the piston 3 reciprocates, the piston beingconnected to the crank shaft 4 by the connecting rod 5. The cylinder is provided with an inlet port 6, through which the flow of steam is c011- trolled by the rotary inlet valve 7. The stem of the valve 7 is splined in the gear 8, which is rotated by the gear 9, which latter gear is suitably connected to the crank shaft 4. The period of cut-off may be varied by sliding the valve longitudinally and for this purpose the valve stem is provided with a rack 12 which is engaged by the quadrant 13. which is movable manually.

The cylinder is provided with an exhaust port 14 and the flow of steam therethrough is controlled by the rotary exhaust valve 15, which is rotated in time with the inlet valve by the gears 16 and 17, the gear 17 being connected to the crank shaft. The exhaust valve is similarly provided with a rack 18 engaged by the quadrant 19 which is con nected to the quadrant 13. so that both valves are moved longitudinally simultaneously. The exhaust valve is provided with forward and reverse exhaust passages 21 and 22 spaced apart longitudinally. The working fluid from the cylinder passes througl'i the exhaust port 1.4, through the aperture 23 in the valve seat 24, through one of the passages 2l22 in the valve, depending upon which passage is alined with the aperture 23, through the aperture 25 in the valve seat and through the passage 26 into the outlet chamber 27.

The worm gears 9 and 17 are secured to shafts 41 journalled in the engine casing and extending therefrom. The shafts 41 are provided on their ends with gears 42, meshing with a gear 43, secured to the projecting end of the crank shaft 4, so that all of the shafts 41 rotate synchronously. The shafts 44, on which the gear segments 13 and 19 art secured, are provided on their ends with .interineshing segmental racks 45 so that all of the shafts 44 are movable simultaneously and equally. A lever 46 connected to one rack provides the means for moving all of the shafts 44.

Formed in the valve 15, between the forward and reverse passages 21 and 22 is a circumferential groove 28, which is adapted to be moved into alinement with the apertures 23 and 25 and thereby place the cylinder in continuous communication with the outlet chamber 27 When the valve is so disposed it is in neutral position, establishing continuous communication between the cylinder and the atmosphere or condenser. The inlet valve 7 is provided with a forward steam admission portion 31 and a reverse steam admission portion 32, spaced longitudinally of the valve, and between these portions is a full or ungrooved portion 33 which, in alinement with the inlet port, preventsthe flow of steam into the cylinder. The valves are connected and when the supply of steam is shut off by the inlet valve, the exhaust port is open to the atmosphere so that the piston is free to reciprocate under the momentum of the load, without producing any material variations in pressure within the cylinder.

Means are also provided for preventing lubricating oil from the crank case from working its way along the cylinder Wall into the working part of the piston and mixing with the working fluid, thereby producing a saving in lubricant, and in steam engines, preventing the mixture of oil with the eX- haust steam. Formed in the inner surface of the cylinder at such distance from the cylinder head, that they are always covered by the piston, are one or more circumferential grooves 34 which open into apertures 35 extending through the cylinder Wall and opening into the exhaust valve chamber 36, which is in communication with the crank case. Oil creeping along the cylinder wall is caught in the grooves anddrains into the crank case.

The general features of the engine disclosed but not claimed herein, are disclosed and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,519,672 issued December 16, 1924.

I claim:

1. In an engine, a cylinder, a piston adapted to reciprocate in said cylinder, an exhaust valve for said cylinder having forward and reverse passages and provided with means disposed between said passages for placing the cylinder in continuous communication with the atmosphere during the reciprocation of the piston.

In an engine, a cylinder, a piston adapted to reciprocate in said cylinder, an exhaustport on said cylinder, and a longitudinally movable rotatable exhaust valve for controlling the flow of steam through said port, said valve being provided with a c1rcumfercntial groove adapted to be moved into registry with said port.

3. In an engine, a cylinder, having an exhaust port a piston adapted to reciprocate in said cylinder, a valve casing having an outlet port a longitudinally movable rotary exhaust valve having forward and reverse passages spaced apart longitudinally thereof, and a circumferential groove in said valve between the forward and reverse passages adapted to be moved into registry with said ports.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco, California, this 15th day of July 1919.

\VILLIAM A. DOBLE, JR. 

